Those With The Blood of Wolves
by STIXandMANNY
Summary: The number one rule for those born with the blood of wolves is, STAY AWAY FROM HUMANS, a rule that was set in place by the first. The ones who were cast out, banished from their tribes and hunted down over a century ago. Odin's pack is no exception, but one curious pup, who just happens to be Odin's own youngest has become captivated by humans in the nearby town. -Werewolf au.
1. Chapter 1

**I've kinda hit a block on the fic I'm currently working on, I'm so close to the end too. So I decided to start something new in the hopes of getting back in the grove, will likely be a little slow going with chapter posts though.**

 **Anyway on with the first chapter.**

* * *

 _Curiosity killed the cat._

 _He had heard Heimdall say that once, at the time he had just assumed it was the large earth coloured wolf's strange way of saying he hated the small agile creatures, but perhaps there was truth in the saying. Maybe curiosity, did kill cats, or in this case the wolf._

 _Everyone was always telling him he was too curious for his own good. It was curiosity that had him venturing so close to the human territory, and curiosity that had him on his thind legs, leaned up against a tree, as he sniffed at the strange contraption the humans had set up among the branches using rope, becoming ensnared in it as he lost his footing and slipped. He'd only managed to tangle himself further as he thrashed around in an attempt to free himself, he had even tried changing form, hoping his human hands might make it easier to loosen and remove the ropes, but the sudden change in size had caused their hold to tighten further, causing further stress and in his panic he had changed back before he had even attempted to use his hands._

 _And so he found himself trapped, rope digging into his flesh, blood dripping from a gash in his front right leg which was bound tightly, and completely exhausted. Lungs burning as he desperately struggled for breath as the taut ropes constricted his neck, his back paws only barely reaching the ground._

* * *

Loki's ear twitched as he heard footsteps crunching through the thin layer of snow that had coated the ground overnight, lifting his nose as he sniffed to catch the owner's sent, he was near the outskirts of the woodlands his pack claimed, not far from the human village so he had to be careful. He caught the man's scent just as he heard a familiar voice mumbling incoherently under his breath as he almost tripped on a root.

 _"Whoa there, calm down little guy, I'll get you out of there."_

Loki slowly stepped out from his place in the shadows, he was surprisingly good at disappearing into his surroundings considering his onyx coat - that was what the man had called it - tented to stand out in the white winter snow.

"Oh, hi there, I haven't seen you in a while." The friendly blonde haired man smiled as he spotted him, patting down the pockets of his thick brown leather jacket. "I'm sorry little fella I don't have anything for you today."

He tilted his head at the man and flicked his ear in understanding, though admittedly he was a little disappointed, but then he hadn't been near the place for a little over a week now, so the man probably wasn't expecting to see him today. Loki moved in a little closer following the man through the woods at a distance, staying at least nine feet away as he followed beside. He did come closer to the blonde occasionally when the man brings a sausage with him, though the guy always stepped back from the offered treat to give Loki room.

"I'm just out collecting sticks for the wood stove, keep running out of the little stuff." The man spoke as he bent over to pick up a thin branch from the ground.

Loki had no idea what a wood stove was or why it required bits of tree, but he liked that the man talked to him whenever he was watching him. He had become intrigued by the man, he seemed kind enough and had even saved his life, that was what had had him coming back hoping to catch a glimpse of him again the first time.

He had growled at the man when he had first come upon Loki, exhausted and tangled in ropes, the strangled sound coming out rather pathetic considering he had no air, but the man hadn't been scared off. Instead, he talked to him in a soothing voice promising to cut him free. He could have lashed out, attacked the man once he was loose, but the guy risked getting mauled and had cut loose the ropes around his throat before cutting away the others. He hadn't attacked the man once he was free, of course, the guy had just helped him after all and admittedly the growling was more out of fear than a threat towards the man.

The humans were so interesting, the way they lived, the things they did it was all so different to what he knew. He was part like them, part human, he and his entire pack had a human side to them, but had no understanding of it. Sure, he could move walk and speak in his human form, those skills came naturally with birth, but being raised in the ways of the wild he had no idea how humans should interact with each other, how they lived within their towns and villages.

Watching as the blonde added another stick to the pile in his arm, Loki moved to sniff around the twigs and undergrowth himself.

"I always see you by yourself, I hope you have friends out there somewhere." The man said nodding further into the woods, Loki stopped what he was doing to look at the blonde, he didn't know the man's name but he was rather fond the guy so he always made sure to let the man know he had his full attention when speaking to him. "It's getting rather cold out after dark lately, so I hope you have friends to snuggle up with at night." The blonde continued as he put his pile of sticks down, removing a roll of hide from his pack and spreading it on the ground.

Loki watched on curiously as the man lay the leather flat before moving his pile of sticks onto it, moving to pick up others and adding them to the pile on the hide. Finding a thick twig himself Loki grabbed an end, lifting it from the ground, one end slightly dragging in the snow as he made his way to the piece of hide the man had left, as the human moved further away to gather more wood. He dropped it by the pile, giving the hide a sniff, only the faintest scent of elk remaining, how the humans had managed to remove all of the animal's fur from its skin was a mystery and one of the reasons they were warned away from humans.

'The humans kill young wolves and tear the skin from their bodies.' That was one of the warnings his father had given when he was small.

"That'll make it easier to carry them home when I'm done." The blonde chuckled as he walked back over with another armful of sticks, Loki retreated back a few feet, as the man deposited the branches in his arm onto the pile on the ground. "Thank you for the help though." He grinned, eyes following the drag line through the snow.

Loki couldn't help the slight wagging of his tail as he slowly circled back over to the northern side where the trees became more dense and sat in the snow, he understood thank you, even his kind used that word. He looked on in fascination as the man folded the hide over the bundle of sticks and tied it in place with string at each end, before hauling it up off the ground and slinging the long loop of string over his shoulder.

"I'll have to head back now, buddy. I still have a lot to do today and nightfall isn't long off." The blonde informed as he headed back towards the town, Loki stood to follow even if for just a little - he dare not get close enough for other town folk to spot him - when a very familiar scent caught his nose, causing his attention to slip back towards the woods depths.

"Looks like you might have be on your way too, huh." The man hummed. Loki looked back to the human, bowing his head slightly in farewell before disappearing back into the woods.

* * *

"You've been warned about going near the humans land, brother." The powerful golden hued wolf with piercing blue eyes stated in disapproval, before sighing, "And yet every time you disappear on a hunt, I find you out here without fail, and do not try and deny going near there because the scent of human clings to your coat."

"What would you know of the smell of humans, Thor, you've never even been close to one." Loki scoffed back, slinking under his big brother's nose - and his big brother was just that, in both age and build, as much like the humans, wolves also came in varying shape and size. Loki was built sleek and agile whilst Thor had a larger more powerful build - and brushing his tail along Thor's nose as he passed.

Thor snorted with a sneeze, "You know I hate it when you do that."

"And you know that is exactly why I continue to do it." Loki grinned, giving his brother's nose another flick with his tail before taking off.

"Oh, you are dead!" The gold wolf growled playfully as he took chase after his brother, the two weaving through the trees, Loki sliding through the snow on his side as Thor tackled him, kicking his brother off of him only to be tripped up by Thor as he tried to run again. The two of them continued like this for several minutes, tails wagging as they chased and tumbled through the snow, playfully nipping each other, eventually Thor had Loki pinned on his back beneath him, both of them chuckling as they caught their breath.

Thor was having a blast it had been a while since he and Loki had had a chance to play like this, usually his friends were around and Loki tended to close up when they were around. And as if on cue Fandral's voice sounded from their left.

"Thor, we have found a small group of young elk. The hunt is back on." He sounded cheerfully.

"Get off me." His little brother huffed, rolling out from under him, getting to his feet and shaking the snow from his dark fur. Thor hated the way his brother tried to act grown up around them, Loki was old enough to join in hunts, with supervision, of course, but he was still just a pup and should be spending his time running about playing and having fun. Unfortunately, being the youngest in their pack, his brother didn't really have anyone his age to play with.

"Hogun and the others are keeping an eye on them." Sif stated, the white female with dark brown-grey markings on her face, shoulders and tail looked Loki over before turning back to Thor, "We better not keep them waiting."

"You coming?" Thor asked his brother with a hopeful tilt of his head turning slightly towards his friends. He doubted Loki would accept the offer, his brother had been hesitant ever since he'd taken a rather nasty kick to the head while hunting elk a few months back, and judging by the way Loki's ears drooped in uncertainty as he considered the offer, he'd likely guessed right.

"Perhaps next time, when there is only one." Loki replied, turning towards their pack's usual hangout spot, "I think I'll head back."

Thor nodded before heading off with his friends, leaving Loki to head back to the remaining members who weren't out hunting. Loki was well aware that he should put more effort into joining the others on hunts, he had to help contribute just as the others did, it's just the thought of being hurt like that again made him nervous.

Upon entering the small clearing the pack spent most of their time lingering about, he gave a quick scan of the area, looking over those that remained behind. His father had joined the hunt today by the looks of it, Balder lingered by a small group and the pale wolf he was looking for lay under the large bent tree in the middle of the clearing, her fur soft cool swirls of creams and greys.

"Mother." He greeted as he rubs his muzzle into her cheek, leaning into her as he lay down beside her, before rolling to his back as he smiled up at her.

"Your father will kill you if he finds out you've been near the village again." Frigga looked down at him with a shake of her head.

"What makes you think I've been near the village?" Loki asked innocently, rolling back to his stomach.

"The fact that you are trying to rub my scent all over yourself is a bit of a give away." She smiled, giving her son a nudge with her nose.

Busted.

"I do wish you would not spend so much time close by the town, I worry for your safety. Odin may exaggerate a little, but the humans are dangerous, they hunted our ancestors for being what they were and there are still many today that hunt our kind. My child, I don't know what I would do if I lost you." Frigga spoke with concern.

Her youngest has always been curious about everything around him and she understood why he might be so curious about the humans, Loki along with everyone else in their pack had not only the blood of wolves but also the blood of humans flowing through their veins. A side that no-one knew much about anymore and none were willing to try and understand out of fear of being hunted once again, none until Loki.

She understood his desire, but it was far too dangerous she had heard, even seen what the humans could do, back when she and Odin were still young, before they had formed the wonderful pack they had today, Odin's own brother had gotten too close to the humans. He had been killing livestock that belonged to the men, the humans became mad and the pack was scattered, many lost their lives to the human weapons, Odin himself lost an eye. The two of them fled to one of the rendezvous sites where they waited two full days, but Heimdall - who was only Loki's age at the time - and Tyr were the only two who returned.

The four of them never spoke of this to their new pack though, Odin never spoke of the incident again and the rest of them kept silent out of respect, but there were times she wished Odin would tell the youngsters of that day, perhaps it would help dissuade them from venturing too close to the towns. At least she could feel assured by the fact she knew Loki held no interest in the humans livestock, and wasn't as dominant as his brother was so it was safe to assume he wouldn't try to lead a hunt of his own.

"I always make sure to stay hidden among the trees, I don't venture near the clearing before town." Loki pointed out, looking at his mother with big apologetic green eyes, giving her a quick lick on the cheek, "I do not mean to worry you so."

"I know." His mother smiled, sitting up to fuss over a bit of dirt that clung to his ear. "You seemed in high spirits when you got back, did something happen?"

"Thor and I played for a bit, it's been a while since we've had the chance to play." Loki grinned back, too bad his brother's friends had to go and interrupt them. Just after Loki had finished talking Heimdall's howl drifted through the woods, signalling the hunt had been successful.

"Well, we had better go get something to eat before all the best bits are taken." His mother urged giving him a nudge before heading in the direction the howl had originated from.


	2. Chapter 2

Once again Loki found himself with the blonde man, in the woods near the village, this time he hadn't headed there intentionally though. Honest. He had been following Balder, the honey, rust and grey coloured wolf, who was out marking their land, the pack had been spending a lot of time on the western side of the stream lately and he didn't want others trying to moving on their ground they held by the eastern shores.

Eventually splitting ways as balder decided to cross the stream to where Heimdall and Tyr were roaming about, Loki had intended to meet the other two with him, but Balder not wanting to take the long path decided to leap from rock to rock where they were, knowing full well the younger preferred to cross downstream where the water shallowed. Not quite assured that he could keep his footing on the icy rocks, Loki decided he'd head back.

On his way back however a large shiny black beetle had caught his attention and not often seeing insects in the winter months, Loki's curiosity had ended up getting the better of him as he took chase, pouncing and snapping at the bug whenever he got close enough in attempts to catch it.

It hadn't been worth it in the end, once he had finally caught the beetle in his mouth, he found it had the most foul taste he had ever come across, spitting it out instantly and paying it no heed as it flew off on its way. He must have followed the insect further then he had thought as the scent of sausage soon caught his nose, directing him to the familiar blonde, who was whistling the same tune he often did when out for a stroll.

Following the sound but staying hidden Loki stalked the man making sure he was alone before revealing himself. Stepping out of the shadows and moving closer to the human he followed for a few more seconds, sitting down and making a slight whining sound as the blonde still hadn't noticed him.

"Hello, when did you get here?" The man greeted, turning to Loki and taking a seat on the stump beside him, "I'm sorry, I'm not really doing anything interesting for you to watch today," he started talking, with a relaxed sigh, "I just felt like going for a walk and getting some peace and quiet, I have a particularly stubborn friend, well more of a house mate really, who can be rather childish at times and needed to get away for a bit."

Loki gave his head a light shake, crawling forwards a little closer and sitting himself again. He could totally relate, Thor and his friends could be very stubborn, childish and annoying at times.

The blonde watched him with a friendly smile, speaking up again once Loki stilled. "I've been out here for almost an hour now and you didn't seem to be hanging about yesterday, so I was beginning to think you wouldn't show. But don't worry," he reached for his satchel, flipping over the front cover and reaching in to pull out a small pouch. "I brought some treats today, just in case." He grinned.

Loki's ears stood at attention his tail giving a wag as he smelt to food hidden within, he lent forwards a little eager to move towards the treat, but deciding to wait until the man pulled it from the bag. He gave his lip a small lick in anticipation as the blonde pulled the small sausage out of the pouch, though instead of putting it down and stepping back or tossing it between them like he usually did, the man kept it in his hand, crouching down as he held it out in offer.

 _'Gutsy.'_ Loki thought, the man hadn't attempted to get close enough to touch him since the day he had cut him free from the ropes.

"Come on, I won't hurt you." The man encouraged, giving the offered treat a slight shake.

Loki cautiously made his way over towards the human, head lowered slightly and not daring to take his eyes from the man, he didn't think the guy would try anything, he had been nothing but nice since he first met him, but he was a little nervous none the less. Cautiously stretching his nose forwards to grab the sausage, feeling a little more courageous as the man continued to smile that calming friendly smile of his, he was just about to snatch the treat when a second voice suddenly sounded.

"Steve! There you are I was about to send a search party."

Completely startled, Loki left the sausage and bolted back into the shadows and out of view.

"Thanks a lot Tony, you just scared him off." The blonde - named Steve, as he had just learnt - tisked the other man, as a shorter dark haired man with odd shaped facial hair stepped into view.

"Scared who off?" Tony questioned looking around the seemingly empty area of woods.

"The young wolf I told you about, remember, the one I found caught in rope a few months back." Steve answered, eyes focused and scanning the area Loki had scrambled off too, not that it was doing him any good the animal was far too skilled at blending into its surroundings.

The brunette walked over, standing beside Steve as he squinted in the direction his friend was looking, "Wait, that black dog is still hanging around?" He said, startling a little as a short low growl sounded from a few feet away.

"He is a wolf not a dog Tony, and he is actually rather smart." Steve pointed out, holding out the sausage again as he called for his four legged friend. "It's okay, Tony isn't going to harm you, you can come out now."

When after a minute or two the wolf still hadn't emerged from his hiding place, Steve grabbed Tony by his coat's sleeve and yanked him to the ground. 'Ow! What the hell.' The man grumbled as his backside made contact with the not so soft ground, sure there may have been a layer of snow covering most of the land but it wasn't very thick this early in the season.

"It's probably intimidating now that there are two of us and only one of him, he doesn't even know you. You'll seem less of a threat if you make yourself appear smaller." Steve reasoned, that was part of the reason he had seated himself before offering the meat.

"Come on little guy, Tony isn't very fast and if he moves to get up you'll be long gone before he even has the chance to take chase. This is the childish stubborn friend I was talking about earlier, I trust him.'" Steve reassured.

To show the wolf he didn't expect him to get close like he had just before Tony spooked him off, he tossed the sausage in the direction Loki had taken off, the tube of meat landing halfway between where Loki currently hid and where he was seated earlier.

Loki flicked his ears nervously as he considered what he should do. There was two of them now and as much as he had begun to trust the Steve, he wasn't sure of this new man, not to mention the guy had called him a dog. He shouldn't have been near humans in the first place, it was risky letting one human know of his presence, letting another see him could be dangerous, what if he alerted others and they decided they didn't want a wolf hanging around near their land.

But on the other hand that sausage did smell incredibly good and all that running around chasing the foul tasting beetle had made him a little hungry, and it would be rather rude to turn down a gift, not to mention wasteful. Giving in to the treat Loki slowly revealed himself to the men, cautiously walking over to the sausage, he was about to sink his teeth into the treat when an idea came to mind causing his lips to curl upwards in amusement.

"I thought you said he was smart." Tony whispered quietly to his friend, as the raven furred wolf started rolling his back over the sausage, instead if eating it.

"This is kind of new to me as well, he usually just eats them." Steve whispered back a little perplexed himself as to what the wolf was doing.

After rolling a few times and satisfied that the smell had clung to his coat, so he could show Thor what he had missed out on, Loki got up turning back to the treat in the snow and snuffling it up. Licking the crumbs from his lips he gave a short bark like sound in thanks.

"Sorry, that's all I have." Steve admitted holding out both hands for Loki to see. Loki begun sniffing the air and turning his attention to the new man, though he doubted the other had brought him anything.

"Don't look at me." Tony held his hands up innocently, thumbing over towards Steve as he got to his feet, "I just came out here to find this guy, I need a hand with something."

Loki flinched, retreating a couple of paces as Tony got to his feet, he still wasn't sure if showing himself to this man was a good idea. Steve stood as well assuring the wolf once more that Tony meant no harm and wouldn't tell anyone about him, before saying his good byes for the day and heading back towards town with his friend. Loki heading off himself further into the woods.

"Try to be a little calmer next time, don't move around so suddenly, the little guy is jumpy around people." Steve sighed, as he and Tony crossed the clearing surrounding the town.

"I think a wolf is a little more dangerous that I am, Steve." Tony pointed out, how was Steve not nervous around the beast, it was a wild animal and could turn on him at any moment. Of course he had been loud when he had seen how close it was to his friend, he had hoped that would scare it off, honestly how could he trust it enough to encourage it to come right up to him like that. The guy was too soft when it came to animals.

Okay, he understood when Steve had come home and told him he'd freed a wolf that was tangled in rope, it could have been dangerous if the animal had lashed out and attacked once it was free, but he understood that Steve couldn't leave it to die and from what Steve had told him, it had been to exhausted to attack. Why the guy had to keep going out and looking for it though, that had him stumped, his friend's secret was safe though, as long as the wild dog didn't start taking the livestock from surrounding farms.

"If he is provoked perhaps, but otherwise he is quite docile." The blonde defended, "Now what is it you need help with?"

"We have to get Bruce's stupid contraption inside before dark." Tony groaned, he had been just as excited as Bruce was when the new equipment was delivered, a large solid table with built in bits and pieces to hold the man's lab set, unfortunately it was far too heavy for just the two of them to move and Steve was the muscle power of their little group.

"And where are we supposed to put this thing?"

"Me and Bruce cleared some space in the basement, it should fit. Just." Tony shrugged, giving his friend a friendly slap on the back.

* * *

Thor sniffed the air as he came over to talk to his brother. Loki had sought the golden coloured wolf out after his run in with Steve, his brother had been with his friends though, naturally, so Loki had ended up taking a seat a couple of meters from where the group was playing. His brother finaly spotting him and braking away from his friends a few minutes latter.

"What is that?" Thor asked as he sniffed Loki's dark coat, walking around his brother as he did so. "It smells so good, you had better have saved me some." He said excitedly, tail wagging with excitement, what ever it was his brother had found it smelt delicious.

"Sausage." Loki smiled proudly, tilting his chin up.

"Sausage?" Thor asked, tilting his head in confusion. He had never heard of such a creature.

"Only the most delicious thing one could ever taste in their life." Loki boasted.

"Please tell me you saved some." Thor pleaded, licking his lips as he took another whiff of the sausages scent.

"Sorry, Steve only brought one and I wasn't going to waste it on you." The black wolf snickered as he turned, teasingly flicking his tail in his brothers face as he did so, only to yelp in surprise as Thor gave his tail a nip. Turning back to Thor in annoyance to find anger plastered on his brothers face.

"Are you mad? You trusted food from a human!" Thor snapped, lips turned up in a snarl as the fur on the back of his neck stood on end, "It could have been poisoned." He continued, lowering his voice as he realised he was drawing his friends attention.

"Steve wouldn't poison anything." Loki snapped back.

"You call it by name now? What is wrong with you? Have you forgotten everything we've been told!" Thor growled.

Loki pretty much mirrored his brother now, teeth bared and hackles raised, Thor's words having riled him up. "What would you know. You are too afraid to even step foot near them, instead you cower and hide like everyone else!"

Rage flooded Thor at these words, with a deep growl he lunged at his brother grabbing Loki by the side of his neck, using the larger wolf's shoulders as leverage Loki sunk his teeth into the side of Thor's face managing to grab a hold of his ear while doing so.

"We had better intervene." Volstagg sighed as the brothers continued to snap and kick at each other.

"Aye, before Thor ends up doing something he'll regret." Sif agreed. After all it was no secrete that their friend had trouble controlling his temper at times.

It hadn't taken long for Thor to over power his smaller brother and gain the upper hand, and the last thing they needed was a repeat of the incident three years ago. Thor had been beside him self with guilt over managing to cause enough damage to leave little Loki limping for a week after a tiff, which Loki had started in the first place, and wasn't helped by the fact Loki had ignored him for two whole days afterwards choosing instead to seek out his mother's comfort.

"Stop it, both of you!" The honey eyed she-wolf shouted, grabbing Thor by the scruff and pulling him off. Thor turned to snap at her, only to stop when he realised who it was that had interfered.

"Enough both of you," Fandral said moving to stand between the two brothers, "honestly the two of you are worse than a pair of bickering bitches. No offence." He added, deflating a little under Sif's cold gaze.

Loki turned with a huff, stalking off back into the trees, leaving Hogun to shake his head as Thor tried to clam himself.

"By the First, what was that most mouth watering smell?" The groups heaviest member said, sniffing the air, causing his friends to groan.


	3. Chapter 3

Amora scoffed, rolling her yellow-green eyes as the packs youngest came prancing into the clearing with a dead rat, tossing the rodent around like it was the greatest thing this side of the moon.

"Well I think its cute." Lorelei stated from her spot in the afternoon sun next to her sister.

"Hardly," the lighter copper she-wolf snorted, "If anything it's sad, the brat prancing around looking pleased with himself over a measly rat, when he is too afraid to even participate in the big hunts."

"Oh, you're just still sour over the fact you were laughed at when he scared you with that frog." The dark copper female laughed, Amora huffing as she went back to chewing the old bone by her feet.

Thor congratulated his brother on his catch as Loki trotted past, genuinely pleased for his brother, he may only be catching small prey for now, but Thor was sure Loki would soon have the confidence to help bring down an elk. Encouraging his friends to show his brother their own encouragements.

"What's going on?" Heimdal asked, watching Loki toss the rat at Frigga's feet, as he and Odin entered the clearing.

"Loki is showing Mother his catch." Thor explained before following his friends to the fallen tree they liked to hang at.

"Such fuss over little more then a snack." Odin sighed with a shake of his head, Thor had outgrown chasing rats by the age of ten.

"Come now, show some enthusiasm." The earth coloured wolf told his alpha with a shrug, "Who knows, perhaps a little confidence is all the pup needs to re-join the big hunts."

Odin hummed in thought at this, maybe Heimdall was right, after all, all present at the time had been shaken somewhat by the accident, none more then Loki of course. And the hunt had been all but forgotten as with a yelp their youngest had collapsed to the ground. Odin was just glad his mate hadn't been there at the time to see the blow her boy had taken to the head.

Maybe a little confidence was all Loki needed.

"Oh my," Frigga astounded as she looked at the pale dust coloured rodent her youngest had dropped at her feet, "It is practically the size of a rabbit."

"It was surprisingly fast as well, though I was faster." Loki grinned.

"Naturally." Frigga smiled up at her son. "So why are your spoils by my feet?" She asked.

"It is a gift, for you." Loki stated, tail wagging as he sat down beside her.

"Oh, and what have I done to deserve such a wonderful gift?" Frigga beamed as she gave her gift a sniff.

"You are my mother, I hardly need reason to spoil you from time to time." Loki said nuzzling his mother's cheek.

"Well then I must thank you for the gift." frigga smiled giving Loki a kiss on the nose.

Looking up, as a shadow fell over him, Loki's grin faulted, as Odin stood in front of him. "Nice catch." Odin stated.

"It's... It's nothing special." Loki pointed out modestly, feeling a little unnerved by his father's presence. He didn't often do things that warranted his father's attention, and the occasions in which Odin did pay him notice was usually when he had caused trouble. So he didn't often expect to hear praise from the wise one-eyed wolf.

"It may be but a rat but it is a good catch all the same. Well done my son." Odin insisted with a small smile, giving a nod as he turned to leave. moving a little further into the centre of the clearing he announced his plans for an evening hunt. Thor and his friends, Amora, Tyr and Heimdal all standing to accompany him on the hunt, Balder, Idun and Lorelei opting to remain behind and keep Frigga company.

"Loki?" Odin questioned as he noticed his youngest had risen and started to follow behind him.

"I, um... Thought I might accompany you, if that is alright." Loki said eyes glued to the ground. He was still a little nervous about going near to the elk, but he would have to start contributing to the hunts sooner or later.

"Of course it is." Odin stated, "And none shall judge should you prefer to stay on the outer lines."

* * *

Turns out the hunt wasn't as bad as he'd feared, he wasn't kicked, or knocked out, or hurt in any way. In fact he had even managed to prevent the elk from veering off into the outer woods that boarded the fields the humans tended to. It was a complete accident really, he was on the outer lines of the pack and happened to have a sudden burst of speed that just happened to land him in its path when it tried to turn. Then it wasn't long before the beast had been tripped up and Tyr had latched onto its throat.

Now the whole pack had gathered to feed. "Nicely done brother. For a moment there I had though our meal lost." Thor congratulated, licking a smear of blood from just below his brother's eye.

"Eew." Loki scrunched his nose as he shoved his brother's face away with his paw, before whipping his own face. Thor just laughed at the dark wolf's reaction.

Most of the pack were still eating, while many of the younger members had already had their fill, not Volstagg though, he could out eat even Tyr. Sif, Hogun and Fandral sat together under a near by tree, joking and bragging among them selves.

"Hey, Thor, loan me your shoulders for a moment will you?" Loki fluttered his lashes innocently at his brother. Thor looked a little puzzled by the odd request but obliged anyway, standing up and readying himself. Loki smiled as he used his brothers shoulders as a step to help balance him on his hind legs, Thor watching him with curiosity as he reached for the thin tree limb above their heads, taking two attempts before he managed to grab the branch. Then removing his front paws from his brothers shoulders, he dropped back to his feet pulling the branch with him, before letting go and watching it spring back into its original place.

The built up covering of snow that had coated the leaves sent flying, flinging up and forwards and smacking into the upper branches of the tree his brother's friends sat beneath. The layers of snow falling through the branches, picking up more as it travelled down, until eventually reaching the final branches and falling though and onto the unsuspecting group who had looked up last minute to see what the commotion in the tree was. Loki's gleeful burst of laughter at the varying shocked faces, echoed throughout the small clearing. Thor unable to stop himself joining in at the sound of his brothers bubbly laughter.

"Looks like the pups are at it again." Balder sighed, giving his head a slight shake as the three snow dusted wolves turned their attention at Odin's boys.

"It's just a bit of harmless fun." Idun giggled, giving her mate a quick kiss on the nose. As her two youngest and Sif took off after Odin's boys with a shout, threatening death. Volstagg looked from his brothers and friends, back to the half chewed rump in front of him then back again before chasing into the trees after the others.

* * *

"Haha! You shall never catch us." Thor barked wildly back at his friends, as he and Loki zagged through the tall thin trunks of the pale barked trees, the others close on their tails.

"Slow down will you! Please." Volstagg called from the back of the pack, still several feet behind everyone else. He was catching up fast, but he was also starting to get a cramp from having join the chase so soon after eating. His younger brothers didn't slow any, but Hogun did look back to make sure he was keeping up.

The group had been zipping and bounding, as they chased each other, laughing and taunting as they attempted to tackle one another. Though the Alpha's sons proved difficult to catch. As they dashed through the snow, that had been steadily building up over the past two weeks.

"Ah... Where's Sif?" Loki looked to his brother, having realised the female was no longer behind them.

"She was behind us but a moment ago." Thor replied in confusion, slowing somewhat, looking back over his shoulder.

Loki was about to respond when suddenly a weight crashed into him from the left bringing him tumbling to the ground, with a startled cry. Instinct causing him to kick out at his attacker he soon realised the missing female had tackled him.

"Save some for us!" Fandral cheered as he pounced at Thor who had paused momentarily, when Sif had bounded out of nowhere and caught his brother. Volstagg panting slightly as he caught up, stopping next to, Hogun who watched on.

Suddenly a defining bang sounded, echoing throughout the woods louder than any clap of thunder. All six of them freezing instantly as the noise went off, Loki rolling to lay at attention on his stomach, as Sif stood over him. All ears at attention as the wolves stare in shock towards the direction the noise had sounded.

"What in the woods was that?" Volstagg, uttered in disbelief, the sound was some what like thunder but there was not a cloud to be seen through the treetops.

"I do not know, but it cannot bode well." Hogun warned.

* * *

What was left of the hunt was left to the crows for the time being as the remaining members finished their meal. They now sat back at the clearing they used as their usual rendezvous point, chatting and relaxing, the youngsters had been off playing for almost an hour now. They knew they need not worry, Thor, his brother and their friend would not stray far from the clearing, and they never crossed the stream unless at least one of the adults were on the other side. And with the bears in hibernation for the winter there was little threat to their safety.

That was until Odin heard the all too familiar sound of a gun being shot, echo through the woods.

"No." He breathed, as he swiftly got to his feet. A few of the others had risen too, startled by the sudden sound. Odin and Frigga shared a concerned glance before the two of them took off in the direction the young ones had headed when they first took chase in their game, Heimdal and Idun following along behind.

"Why? Why would the humans be hunting here now?" Frigga worried as she ran alongside her mate.

"For all we know it could be Laufey's pack stirring trouble in the east, I hear there is a village near them too." Idun added, though she doubted such, after all why would hunters from the next town over venture this close. Rumour had it, the pale mountain wolf's pack numbered near thirty now, and due to size their borders had started spanning further towards the town on the plains at the Mountains base.

A small part of Laufey's territory boarded on the eastern boarders of their own, and though there were the odd skirmishes between the packs both sides tended to stay away from each other. Her own mate had originated from the mountain pack, Odin and Frigga had been kind enough to let him join them after a particularly brutal clash between the two packs, not long after the pack had taken her in, when Balder had been around Thor's age. His own pack having cast him out for sparring her life during the battle.

"It sounded too close for that." Odin stated, giving his surroundings a quick sniff to figure out which way the kids had run from here, turning left as he followed the scent.

Images of blood matted fur and lifeless bodies, swam through his mind as another two gunshots sounded. Images from his past, from when his own foolish brother had led the humans straight to his father's pack. He could not bare to go through that again, to see his pack torn asunder by angry humans, he could not bare the thought of finding one, or even all the packs young murdered.

"Children!" Frigga shouted as she spotted the youngsters up a head, her heart filling with dread when she realised Loki was on the ground. "Loki!"

Loki, Thor and his friends all turned as they heard the alpha females call, Loki moving to stand, Sif stepping away from him, as he noted the distress in his mother's voice.

"Mother are you-" Loki was interrupted as the pale she-wolf, caught him in an embrace, fussing frantically.

"You are alright, oh thank the First. You are unharmed." She worried, Thor moving to her side.

"What was that sound?" He asked.

"Humans," Odin answered, "a weapon used by humans when they hunt."

"It is so loud." Sif murmured, in astonishment.

"It is extremely dangerous, it shoots small projectiles capable of tearing through flesh and bone." Odin stated grimly.

"An unfortunate bear." Heimdall explained as he joined them from where he had silently crept off to see what the humans were after. "Perhaps it was disturbed from its hibernation, but for what ever reason it would seem it ventured into the humans fields, near to livestock. They prepare to remove its skin as we speak."

"We should head back, just to be safe." Idun reasoned giving her eldest an encouraging shove.

"Aye." Odin agreed, "No one is to venture from the clearing tonight." He ordered as they headed back to the rest of the pack.


	4. Chapter 4

One full month of winter had passed, now, and due to foul weather conditions which had covered the woodlands in a thick layer of snow. Loki had not been near the town to visit Steve for a week now. In fact many of the pack members had not left the thick cluster of twisted trees, by the clearing, that offered protection against the harsher winds and snowfall. And Loki, like many others, he assumed, was starting to tire of being cramped in with everyone else, a few others were beginning to really grind on his nerves.

So once the weather had cleared he was quick to get out and about, to stretch his legs. In the beginning it had been him, Thor and their mother, mostly enjoying each others company as they strolled through the woods. Though Loki had been happy enough when Thor's friends had decided to drag him off with them, leaving just his mother and himself.

"It is certainly nice to hear the birds chittering again." Frigga smiled, as they headed for the stream.

"Much nicer than having to hear Thor and his friends moaning over not being able to run around." Loki replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I think everyone was tiring of sitting still." Frigga smiled back, "it is certainly nice to be able to stretch our legs again."

"Indeed, so I propose a race to the stream." Loki grinned before taking off at a sprint.

"Do you now." His mother called after he sneaky son, hot on his heels as she too picked up her pace. "Then I suggest you move faster than that." She laughed as she cut in front of him.

Loki laughed as his mother took the lead, catching his nose with her tail and causing him to sneeze, the action momentarily tripping him up. "Oh, we're playing sneak tactics are we!" He cheered, "Two can play at that."

"Don't get too confident," Frigga giggled, as her boy took to her side veering her towards two think trees that twisted around one an other. The small gap between the trunks too low for her, forcing her to turn to round them, as Loki slipped through the gap with ease. "Who do you think you inherited your skilful wit from."

The two continued their race towards the stream laughing and taunting each other in play, as they tried to use every method they could come up with to slow the other down. From flicking branches to veering each other into obstacles, all of the forcing each other off course succeeding in little more then lengthening to distance they had to cover, but making the game all the more fun. Frigga may not be as young as she once was but she still had the energy to engage her youngest in play once and awhile.

In the end the two arrived at the partially frozen stream at the same time, both panting heavily as they try to regain there breath.

"One would think the two of you were being chased by an angry bear, the way you came tearing through the trees like that." Amora spoke, her and her sister sitting by the streams edge. The two of them having come to the stream for a stretch and a drink as well.

"It was a race." Frigga informed them, as she walked to the stream to have a drink, Loki mirroring her as he too lent down to lap up the icy water. The four finding a spot to rest and talk.

There was always little to do in the winter months, less prey around to hunt, due to the lack of plant life, and the lack of greenery often meant that the lessons on healing his mother taught Amora, Lorelei and himself died down. It was harder to teach the different herbs and berries and their uses when there were little to none around. Loki wondered if the humans had similar problems in the snowy moths.

* * *

"Perhaps this wasn't the best idea." Bruce admitted, as he and Steve trekked through the snow. "I had not expected it to take this long to reach the mountain."

"So the snow slowed us down a bit, we are practically here now no point turning back." He pointed out. In reality it may have been wiser to wait a day or two, instead of heading out whilst the snow from the previous week's storm was still fresh and high, but the trek wasn't too difficult, it just took an hour longer than expected.

"We should find plenty in the rocks up there." Bruce pointed, heading to the cluster of rocks littering the path up the mountain. He had come in hopes of collecting a certain moss that grew best in these conditions.

"Why are you so interested in moss again?" Steve asked, finding a clump of green growing between two rocks and pointing it out to his friend, only to have Bruce shake his head.

"It's colouring is more of a red-purple, with a small scattering of green new growth around the edges." Bruce told him, readjusting his glasses as he bent over to closer inspect a large boulder. "And we are gathering this because it produces an oil when crushed, that contain certain healing proprieties, I am hoping I can manage to find a way to filter out the good stuff. Tony is also interested in testing it, he believes its oil might burn slower, he is hoping to try and make lanterns and torches that will burn for twice as long. And we can dry out the left over moss once we've taken the oil and you can use it for kindling."

"Lucky me." Steve smiled back, he honestly felt a little alone being the only one out of the three of them who knew next to nothing about smithing or alchemy. Bruce and Tony were often hauled away either in Tony's forge out the back or the basement which had become an alchemy haven, with all the bottles and burners and contraptions set up down there. Though he knew they tried their hardest to try and involve him in there work, like now, when he helped to gather needed ingredients.

'I think I found some!' Steve announced, calling Bruce over to take a look.

"Yep, that's the one we're looking for." Bruce confirmed, "There is some more by this cluster of rocks over here." He said as he made his way back to the boulder.

"You know, I hear Clint is headed back to these parts. Apparently they are having cougar problems in a small farming community nearby and they have called in the hunters guild." Steve said as they continued to gather chunks of moss.

"We might have to clear out his room then." Bruce laughed, their friend had been out of town for a little over two months now. As the local hunters guild in which Clint had enlisted had been given a job helping out with a problem one of the more populated cities in the south. A whole two weeks travel for those who couldn't afford to travel by train or ferry, luckily the guild had the funds to ride to the next town over to catch the train. though Clint's room back at the house had accumulated quite a lot of his and Tony's old excess equipment over the past month and a half.

"I hear the guild picked up a new member down south, Bucky seems to think Clint's got a bit of a thing for her." Steve laughed.

Bucky had been like a brother to Steve since childhood. He too was a part of the hunters guild, but he had ended up transferring to the guild down south after falling head over heels for a girl he'd met on a job.

"He had better hope Tony doesn't catch wind of this." Bruce replied, "No doubt he'll find all sorts of ways to try and embarrass the guy."

That they both agreed on.

"Okay I think that should do us for now?" Bruce announced as he picked up the bucket of moss. "We don't want to take too much and we best head back before it starts getting dark."

Steve wiped his hands on his pants, giving the area a quick scan. "You go ahead, I think I'll look around a little before heading back."

"Are you sure? It'll be safer if we stay together, what if you get lost?" Bruce worried.

"When have you ever known me to get lost?" Steve smiled, "I have a compass I'll be fine, besides I don't often get to come this close to the mountains." He pulled the old worn compass from his pocket to reassure his friend.

"Very well, just make sure you're careful." Bruce insisted before heading back towards town.

He didn't know what it was exactly that drew him to the outdoors, but he just had this passion for it. He loved wandering about the woodlands, he enjoyed the serenity of it all, the sounds of the wildlife, the fresh air. Bucky had tried to get him to sign up at the hunters guild with him, ' _We'd be stalking the woods for weeks at a time, you'd have a blast.'_ He had said.

It had been tempting but he just didn't think he could make a living out of killing unsuspecting animals, even if they were causing trouble. Even just killing an animal for meat, he'd much rather buy it ready to eat from the market. So instead he found himself making money doing odd jobs for people around town.

No, he was rather sure he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill an animal, unless self defence perhaps, if it be life or death. When he thought of the little black wolf who followed him around the woods at times. The way it observed him, seemed to respond to his words at times, almost as if it understood him, then there was that thing with the stick. It had taken the stick over and placed it with the pile, just as it had watched him doing.

It had this intelligence about it, that was almost human. How could anyone kill something that intelligent.

And then there was that whole legend passed down throughout the years about werewolves, people who turned into vicious beasts, chased into the wilderness and hunted down. People turning into beasts, the whole thing was just absurd. Nothing more than some silly myth to frighten children away from entering the woods alone, most children buy into the myth, even he had as a child. Once he grow older though he began to realise just how foolish the whole thing is.

Wolves are wolves, nothing more.

He started making his way down the rocky incline, back toward the river bank. He had been strolling around for little over half an hour now and he didn't want his friends to start worrying over him. Figuring it would be easiest to just follow the stream back to town. He was so lost in thought that he had been caught completely off guard by the wild goat that had sprung from the bushes, darting right in front of him and up the slopes.

His boot slipping on a frost slicked rock as he stepped back in shock, he hardly had time to register what had happened before he was suddenly tumbling down the incline toward the streams bank. A heavy dull pain in the side of his head, the last thing he remembered before his world went black.

* * *

"Oh come now War Dog, don't be like that." Balder moaned as, Tyr continued to ignore his presence.

"Come now boy, don't be afraid to get your nose wet." Tyr pushed, as his pupil once again stopped last second before diving his snout into the icy water.

"You are being a total bore." The honey, rust and grey wolf wined from the larger wolf's side.

"I am trying to teach Loki to catch a fish, though your incessant yabbering is bound to drive them all off. Why don't you go pester Amora and Lorelei down steam." The large wolf replied sternly.

"Are you suggesting I should go and laze about talking girl talk. You are so boring when you get all serious, I want the fun Tyr back." Balder snorted, sticking out his tongue.

Balder rolled his eyes, though he was quick to stop pestering the older three legged wolf, when he got a sharp growl in reply. Tyr had lost his right front paw to a trap set by humans, large metal jaws that had tore through his bone when he was young.

Though Balder knew when to stop pestering the wolf after all he had earned the nickname War Dog with good reason. Tyr was a force to be reckoned with, a good head taller than other wolves and built like a bull. Even Bears had a hard time handling him. And he had witnessed first hand the berserker rage that took over Tyr in battle, twenty two years ago, three full grown members of Laufey's pack - his pack at the time - they hadn't slowed him down in the least.

So, even though the two of them had become best friends over the years, if the older Wolf wasn't in the mood for fooling around, then it was best not to push his patience too far. It would seem he was determined to teach the pup a life skill, and he didn't want distractions. So taking the hint he left to locate the two down stream, surely they would prove to be better company.

"Don't be afraid of getting your paws wet, brother." Thor heckled, from his spot, seated beside his brother. Making sure to stay still, so as not to frighten the fish away. Tyr had given him this same lesson last winter, so he knew to be on his best behaviour, lest he get snapped at and chased off.

The well built wolf always seemed to teach such lessons in the colder months, the fish were biggest during the winter, they had to be to survive, having successfully grown to adults. Though Thor wasn't so convinced that it was just the convenience of large fish, that had the guy teaching in winter, the fish were well sized by fall after all.

No, he was certain it was the strikingly frigid water, none wanted to plunge their nose into it, which lead to less fooling around and shorter lessons. Tyr believed harsher lessons were learn quickest.

"It is not my paws that are the problem." Loki countered back.

"If you do not make a proper attempt at the next fish to pass, I'll shove your whole head in The water." Tyr snarled starting to lose patience. Though admittedly, apart from the fact he tended to pulled back last second, the kid seemed to have rather good form.

So taking a deep breath to try and prepare himself for the icy plunge his muzzle was about to take. He lunged with the swiftness of a snake as a large dark silver fish passed between his feet. His teeth clamping down on nothing but water as the fish darted left, giving a snort as he pulled up shaking the water from his nose.

"Whoa, you almost had it." Thor cheered, proud of his brother's efforts. The smaller wolf may not be so great with the big hunts yet, but it would seem he was a natural at fishing.

"Good job runt. Now, no more hesitating." Tyr encouraged, he knew the boy would be good at this, he was as swift and agile as his mother.

Loki sprang into action on his next attempt, no longer hesitant of the cold, the initial shock was always the worst. Rather then just standing there when the fish side swerved, he pounced after it snatching the scaly creature up and out of the water. Unfortunately he hadn't been prepared for the sudden thrashing about, his grip on the slipper fish faltering as its tail smacked him in the face. And with a splash it was back in the stream and swimming away.

"Tricky to keep a hold on to them, huh." Thor smiled as he too joined in the activities.

"Good work runt, I think I should take you out fishing with me more often. Your a natural." Tyr announced giving the pup a friendly nip on the ear.

"All I got was a good enough." Thor whispered to his brother with a pout.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a little after dark and a soft fall of snow had slowly begun its decent from the clouds. So with a gentle shake to clear off the light dusting of snow that had collected on his coat, Loki decided it time to head back.

He and his brother had spent most of the evening, trying to catch fish in the stream. Eventually the two of them hade managed to catch one. It wasn't easy as Thor had a habit of making a huge splash which would scare most the fish, but Loki had managed to grab a hold of a nice sized one in the end. It had almost got away in its wild thrashing, luckily it had jumped straight into Thor's mouth, when it did slip free. And in one big bound, with its head held firmly in his teeth, Thor had taken it ashore, placing his paw on its side and tearing its head clear off before it could even think of getting away.

He had worried for a moment that his brother would claim the meal, having been the one to get it ashore. Though he needn't have as his big brother had managed to tear it in half so they could both share in their combined victory.

Thor hadn't stayed long after he'd eaten, heading off to boast to his friends. Loki himself had decided to stay a little longer, he had ended up just listening to the water flowing and watching a stoat scurrying about the roots of a large tree across the stream as it hunt for mice.

Climbing to his feet and starting down stream, to the shallows in which he preferred to cross. The spot he and his brother had spent the evening wasn't so bad the water was quite shallow for the most part but the small stretch in the centre was shoulder high, and he was hardly looking to get that wet now that he had dried. He was almost to the shallows when the sent of blood caught his nose, lifting his nose to sniff the air, he followed the smell to the border of their territory.

There was something vaguely familiar to the sent of blood, it wasn't elk or boar, but he knew he had smelt it before. The fresh powdering of snow wasn't helping, snow tended to burry smells. He could see something, vaguely make out a shape dusted in snow, by the bottom of the mountain, little more then ten meters away. But it was on Laufey's land, so he dare not investigate.

But then it hit him, why the sent was so familiar.

Steve.

The sent was Steve's.

Why was he laying by the base of the mountain? And why was he not moving? He must have been hurt, he was bleeding after all, or had been. He would just go check if the human was okay, he would not be in Laufey's territory for long and with a little luck, none would ever know he'd been there. He cautiously made his way towards the still man, pausing no less than a meter from the man. It was silly, he knew Steve meant him no harm, he had never tried to harm him before, but for some bizarre reason the thought that the man may lash out as he got close enough and grab him, flashed through his mind momentarily.

Shaking the thought from his head, it was absurd anyway, he closed the distance carefully nudging the human's hand with his nose. Nothing. Steve hadn't even twitched at the touch, though Loki noted that the man's skin was very cold to the touch, and he knew it shouldn't have been. Finding the source of the blood under a thin dusting of snow on the side of Steve's head, he gave it a gentle lick. This must be why the man wasn't responding, he had injured his head and Loki knew from experience that such a blow could nock one unconscious for a time.

The young man must have been there for some time as the snow had started to collect on top of his skin and coverings. He could not just leave him, he might freeze to death, or even eaten should any of Laufey's pack come across him. Loki looked back over his shoulder, ten meters was not so far, surely he could move the man to his packs land. Steve would be much safer there.

Turns out it was not so easy as he had hoped, he had grabbed a mouth full of the leather on the man's shoulder and begun to drag him towards the stream. But he did not get far, the human was too heavy, too big in size, he hadn't even made it more than two meters before the leather begun to tear. Looking back between the man and the safety of his own land again, an idea hit him. He was larger in his human form, still smaller than Steve, but the difference would not be as far to his disadvantage.

He hated changing in the winter months the cold always seemed so much harsher without his thick coat of fur to protect him. Doing his best to ignore the chill crawl up his spine as he changed from wolf to human, he scooped Steve up under the arms and started pulling him back towards the stream once more. A shiver shot up Loki's body as he paused to try and catch his breath, how did the man weigh so much? But he was so close, little more than a meter to go, so with a grunt he hauls Steve back again. Falling on his butt as he finally got him into their territory, only just inside the boundary, but inside all the same.

Still Steve did not stir, even after all that, and he was colder than ever. He remembered his mother's lessons on the dangers if ones body temperature should fall too low in the winter, and the importance of sharing body heat. So changing back into his wolf form, he curled up on top of the man's body. It would be easier this way, he could keep an eye out for anything that might look to harm the unconscious human, help keep him safe.

Loki's confidence that they were safe just inside his father's boundary, started waning however, as the moon rose higher and higher into the cloud splattered night sky. Steve had not awoken, so Loki remained keeping vigil from atop the humans chest, alone. One small wolf all alone barely a meter off of the borders to a pack numbering close to thirty. A rather unfriendly pack numbering almost thirty.

And Laufey's pack were known trouble makers, he was beginning to doubt their safety so close to Laufey's land. If any where to pass by Loki had no doubt they would find no issues in crossing the border, after all, he was but one small wolf what threat could he pose, especially if there were more than one of them. He would stand no chance against a group of them, and the rest of his own pack was currently in the woods on the other side of the stream. His parents would likely be furious with him when he returns, for having stayed away all night. The pack still roamed freely during the darker hours, but it was expected, especially from the young to inform others of where you planned to venture.

But he could not leave Steve, the man had helped him once and now it was his turn to return the favour. He had honestly hoped that others from the town may have come looking for the man by now. At least Steve's hands had finally warmed under his belly, not being covered like the rest of the man seemed to be, he had thought to move them to the man's chest, so he could help keep them warm. They had been uncomfortably cold at first, though he hardly noticed them now.

Loki gave Steve's face another lick, with a sigh, why could the man not just wake up all ready, he could then lead him back to the village and return to his own pack.

With a yawn, Loki scanned his surroundings once more, still as still as it was an hour ago. He yawned once more, blinking tiredly as he rest his chin on the human's shoulder, the fishing must have worn him more than he'd realised, as he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He struggled to keep his eyes open as long as he could, but it was not long until he lost the battle, eyes drifting shut as sleep took hold.

* * *

"I really don't like our chances of finding him in good health if he's injured himself, being out alone in the woods the whole night." Bruce worried.

He and Tony had set out at the brink of dawn to try and find their missing friend. He had sounded the alarm when Steve had yet to return after two hours, Tony had waved it off at first, though when he still hadn't returned by sun down. They had set out to search for him, but there was only so much they could do in the dark and it wasn't long before they had to call it off till daybreak. It was just too dangerous roaming the woods at night.

"Relax Bruce, you worry too much. I'm sure he'll be fine, this is Steve were talking about he practically lives in the woods, he spend more time among the trees than he does in town." Tony rolled his eyes.

Yeah he was worried about the guy too, it did get rather cold last night and while Steve may have been dressed for the snow he certainly wasn't equipped for an overnight in the snow. But hey, if anyone was going to have wilderness survival instincts it was Steve, and fretting over his current condition certainly wasn't going to help them find the guy any quicker.

"We don't even know where he is, yes we were at the base of the mountain, but he could have wandered further away from the town or even further up the mountain. For all we know we might be heading the wrong way." Bruce stressed, whishing he hadn't left Steve to wander around the previous day. They should have stayed together.

"Bruce, stop." Tony, released a frustrated breath, as he stoped walking. Causing Bruce stop himself. "This isn't helping. Getting into a panic isn't going to help us find him, if anything it'll slow us down. We should be listening out, what if he shouts for us and we miss it. We'll continue to the place the two of you gathered moss yesterday, if we haven't found him already or he isn't there, we'll head to the stream. If there is still no sign, we'll follow it back to town and call on others to help the search."

"Think about it, if you were out in the woods wandering lost and needed to get home, you head for the stream right? Follow it, it leads straight past town. I'm certain that is what Steve would have done." Tony rationalised.

"You're right." Bruce sighed, giving his head a brief shake to try and clear the worry from his mind. Well at least from the front of his mind, he knew there would be no stopping it until he knew Steve was safe and sound.

"This is rather odd though," Bruce said, as he started for the mountain once more. "I'm usually the one that has to be the voice of reason in such emergencies, you are usually spurting out jokes and sarcasm."

Tony laughed, as he fell in step with his friend. "I know, kind of creepy right. Now let's get back to finding captain wilderness." Tony smiled before shouting Steve's name into the woods, as they had been since they left town.

* * *

Loki's ear twitched as he slept, the faint sound that had caught it not quite enough to wake him. He didn't want to wake, he was so warm and comfortable and the rhythmic rise and fall beneath him was so soothing. He did begin to stir however, when he caught the sound a second time. Eyes blinking open as his ears turned towards the sound, it took a moment for the haze left by sleep cleared enough for him to register what it was he was hearing.

'Steve!'

Somebody was calling the man, from further in the woods.

Remembering the man beneath him, Loki swiftly got to his feet, giving the man's face a nudge with his nose. Still he did not stir. Hearing the call for the man again, recognition flooded Loki's mind, he knew that voice it was the loud mouthed friend Steve had shown him the other week, Tony he thinks. Steve's friend was searching for him, but Steve could not respond to the other's call. And Loki knew the man would be safer and better off with his own pack back in the human village, back with his friends, surely the other humans would know how to treat him, to get him well again.

So taking one final look, at the still man lying in the snow, he took off in the direction of the calling. He was getting closer to the young man shouting for his friend, when a second voice joined in, causing Loki to stumble and pause. He did not recognise this new voice, another human, one he did not know. His eagerness to reach Tony dyed down as the realisation that there was more than one human looking, humans he wasn't sure he could trust.

What if this other human decided he was dangerous, a threat, what if he tried to hurt him. Or worse yet told the others in the town of him, what if the humans decided to come after him and his pack. His father, his whole pack would be mad enough with him as is, there was no way he was going to get the strong sent of Steve from his coat anytime soon. He had spent the entire night curdled up with him after all. His parents would be furious, he could not risk further wrath by showing himself to more humans.

"Steve!"

The voice sounded closer than ever, and Loki still wasn't sure what to do. If he just left them perhaps they would find the blonde by themselves, but what if they did not? Steve needed help, but showing himself to yet another human, it was just too dangerous. He turned away from the direction of the shouting, intending to head back to his pack and face his father's fury, when the image of Steve laying unresponsive in the snow flashed through his mind.

No.

Steve needed help, and he had to help him, just like Steve had helped him. Even if it meant risking another human knowing of his existence. So turning once more, he continued on moving more cautiously as he neared the men. There were only two of them thankfully, Tony and another about the same height with dark curled hair and some strange clear coverings framed with metal over his eyes. The new man did not look very dangerous, but then again Loki had not seen many people, so he was hardly a good judge of which humans were or weren't dangerous.

Trying to stand as tall as he could, not wanting the humans see just how intimidating they were to him, Loki paused atop the hill just a few meters to the right of the two men. Taking a deep breath to try and settle his nerves a little, before giving a short bark.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thought I had posted this last week but it mustn't have through, so here it is now. Unfortunately this fic is going on hold for a while untill I get the last few chapters of silver and cold done and posted as it finally draws to a close. Once it's done however I will get this fic up and running again.**

 **Sorry to end on a cliffhanger for now.**

* * *

"T-Tony." Bruce stuttered, pausing dead in his tracks and slapping Tony across the chest with the back of his hand to get the guy's attention.

Tony narrowed his eyes a little as Bruce slapped him, he wasn't deaf, he had heard it too. Turning cautiously in the direction of the bark, the goateed man let out a breath of relief when he spotted the familiar onyx coat.

"Geez way to scare the life out of a guy. Relax it's just Steve's puppy dog." He chuckled with relief, the wolf let out a short growl of protest.

"And this comforts you? It is still a wild animal, not to mention it dose not sound very happy." Bruce stressed from Tony's side.

"Nah, I think it just doesn't like being call a dog, it did this last time I referred to it as a dog as well." Tony assured. "You think Steve is around here, maybe? This guy usually only shows itself in his presence."

* * *

Loki gave another barking sound. Yes, yes he knew where Steve was he just needed to get them to follow him back to the man. Once both men were fully focused on him once more, he turned, starting back towards Steve, only to stop when he realised neither of them had moved. So he tried again, this time giving a more assertive bark, still nothing.

"Do you think he is trying to tell us something? Maybe he wants us to follow him?" Bruce asked, giving Tony a questioning look.

Loki snorted at the humans question, was that not completely obvious.

"Well he's smart enough to understand when I call him a dog." Tony shrugged back.

Just then the sound of howling broke throughout the woods, causing both humans to fall silent, cautiously scanning the environment.

Loki's head immediately snapped to the direction it had come from, not his pack, but members of Laufey's. They were close, still in their own territory, but too close to his own for comfort, too close to Steve. Their sounded to be two maybe even three howling together, he didn't know what they may do if they come across Steve. Probably think him an easy meal, they may even realise he had been taken across the boarder, that he had been taken from their land.

With those worrying thoughts running through his mind, Loki took off back towards where he had left Steve, without so much as a glance back at Steve's two humans.

"Hey, wait, where did ya go!" He heard Tony calling, as he continued to dash around trees, they were slower than he was and he could no longer see them, though they must have been following.

He gave another bark to alert them to his current direction, he couldn't stop to wait for them though, he had to get back to Steve before he was found. Reaching the clearing by the stream where Steve lay in the snow, he ran straight over to man as he caught a flash of speckled grey through the tree line just past the boarder. Staying close to the unconscious blonde and standing between him and the lurking threat just beyond Odin's land.

He let out a light warning growl as the two young wolves from Laufey's pack drew closer. A young male a little older than Thor, dusted with varying speckles of grey and a female probably a year or two older than himself, a stunning coat of white and silver.

The two slowed down a little as they noticed him, though they continued to move forward. Giving another growl this time with a little more warning behind it, hackles raised and standing tall. His ears forward and fully alert to everything around him and tail standing tall to add extra height, he tried his best to imitate the stance his brother took when staring down a rival, making himself look as big as possible. Though he knew he still looked small compared to what his brother did, he just hoped he looked threatening enough.

The male paused, sharp almost red, amber eyes landing on him, tilting his head slightly as Loki growled again.

"Naww, look at that Blindi, the pup's trying to play big boy." The young female mocked with a laugh.

The speckled grey wolf looked down at the patch of disturbed snow by his feet, giving it a sniff, before looking back up at Loki with a snort. "That's quit the brave act you little thief, I should rip your throat out for daring to take from my father's land." He growled.

"He is safer in our territory." Loki snorted back.

"Ha! You would protect some filthy human." The she wolf scoffed, "Pathetic. I've never tasted human before though, maybe I could give it a try."

Loki gave a sharp snarl at her comment, taking a step back, closer to Steve. "Only an fool would harm a human, it would bring nothing but trouble. We are part human ourselves, how can you even think of eating one."

"Our kind are far superior to humans, we are nothing like those partially evolved monkeys." Laufey's son snorted.

"We are of Laufey's pack, we do not fear humans and we are certainly not afraid to face them in battle." His mate boasted.

"Well, you will not harm this one." Loki pointed out.

He refused to take another step back as the other wolf stepped towards him, teeth bared and ears back, his mate giving a smirk as she too took a threatening step forwards. No matter how much he felt like keeping the distance between himself and the other. Blindi she had said, Blindi, as in Helblindi, Laufey's second son and from what he had heard strong, confident and shows his enemies no mercy. Helblindi was said to be just as vicious as his father, whilst Lauyfey's first born Byleistr was a little more benevolent.

He had met with Laufey's eldest once before when he was only six or seven, having accidently crossed the border between their territories without realising. Chasing a mouse or something of the sort.

 _"Aren't you a little far from home."_

 _Loki stopped dead in his tracks as the large silver wolf seemed to step in front of him from out of nowhere, peering down at him with glowing amber eyes. A large silver wolf he did not recognise, didn't know, wasn't part of his pack. But what was he doing in their part of the woods? It wasn't until the older male's words sunk in that he realised his surroundings were not familiar, the trees too sparse, thinning onto rugged rocks and sloped mountain side. He had crossed the border, ventured into Laufey's land._

 _"Most do not take kindly to trespassers, my father hates others trespassing in his home, his territory." The silver wolf said, staring down at him._

 _Loki could not stop trembling as he lowered himself even further under the stare of the older wolf, he was older even than his brother, by several years. The silver wolf was large built much like Tyr, not quite as big but frightening all the same. He was just about on his belly he was crouched so low, tail between his legs, ears back and whimpering quietly. He shouldn't have been and he knew it, he was an Odinson and should stare his foes down bravely, not cower before them. But it was hard not to, not when the other's powerful jaw could likely snap your tiny bones with ease._

 _"Loki!" He heard his brother calling in the distance, looking for him. He wanted to call back to let his big strong brother know where he was, but he was too afraid to make a sound._

 _"Loki? Odin's little pup. Then you certainly should know better than to wander into our land." The older male spoke, narrowing his eyes in thought, as Thor's desperate calls once again echoed through the trees behind them._

 _Laufey's son took a step closer to him opening his jaw as he lowered his mouth around him. Loki couldn't stop the frightened yelp, as the silver wolf's teeth clutched onto the scruff of his shoulders. Though to his surprise instead of a flood of pain as he had expected, there was little more than a small pinch as the older wolf gently lifted him from the ground._

 _Thor! He could see his brother, as he was carried back towards a familiar cluster of trees, he was facing the other direction, but he was close all the same and relief washed over Loki at the sight. His brother's bright blue eyes however, shot wide open as he turned to find his baby brother in the jaws of one of Laufey's son's._

 _"Loki!" He shouted in horror, coiling tensely as he let out a deep growl, "Get away from my brother this instant."_

 _His brother was so brave, the silver wolf was almost twice his size and he didn't even flinch when staring him down, teeth bared and snarling. He had been so frightened he couldn't even move and yet his brother was ready to fight if he had to. His brother didn't take his eyes off of them as he was slowly lowered to the ground, getting up and dashing over to stand half hidden between his brother's legs as soon as the large wolf stepped back from him._

 _"I'd suggest you keep a closer eye on the little one and teach him your father's borders. Had any other found him I've no doubt he'd not be breathing right now." The silver wolf had stated, before disappearing back into his own land._

Why couldn't it have been Byleistr standing before him rather than Helblindi, at least the elder of Laufey's sons might be willing to listen to reason. Helblindi and his friend didn't seem to care to listen at all, in fact he seemed to be eager for a fight. Loki acted before his brain had a chance to think things through, the second Helblindi stepped out of his territory and into Odin's. Darting forwards and lashing out.

He could barely believe what was happening as he snapped his teeth down on the nape of Helblindi's neck, his front right paw wrapped around the older wolf's back to help gain purchase. His disbelief made even stronger by the fact that he had managed to catch the other by surprise, Helblindi must have expected him to retreat not be stupid enough to actually go up against him.

It had been a bad move thought he realised as his brain finally caught up, he had left his back wide open, having completely forgot about Helblindi's companion. The female was quick to notice this as she snapped at him, trying to get him off of her friend. It wasn't long though before the older male's shock faded and he reared onto his hind legs easily nocking Loki tumbling off him.

Loki dodged to the side as the female lashed out once more, skirting backwards and putting a little distance between them once again.

"I'll kill you runt." Helblindi growled viciously, lunging forwards, shoving his friend out of the way as he charged at Loki.

Loki continued to dance circles around the two from the other pack, dodging and weaving as he did every thing he could to try and avoid getting killed. Without straying too far from Steve, he had to stay close in case the others decided to switch targets. And where in the name of the first where Steve's friends, what was taking them so long? He had no idea humans where so slow, though, then again perhaps it was a good thing they weren't here yet, he had no idea how the two mountain wolves would react. They claimed they didn't fear humans after all.

Making a sharp turn right just as Helblindi leapt straight for him, causing the older wolf to colloid into the female right on his tail. He couldn't keep this up, he could only avoid their attacks for so long before one of them managed to grab a hold, he had to think of something. Perhaps if he took off towards Laufey's territory. They were bound to follow him if he were to intrude on their land, surely. Though, that also warranted the chance of running into others from the large pack that claimed the mountain, which was the last thing he needed. Maybe if he stay close to the border, inside Laufey's but close enough he could easily dart back out.

Just then Steve made a noise, a soft moaning sound. He didn't wake, he didn't move, though his brow did twitch a little, and all thought and need of leading the other two away dissipated as the man caught his attention. As he foolishly took his eyes from Helblindi and his mate, let himself become distracted and suddenly he was shoved roughly, back hitting the snow hard as Helblindi's teeth dug into his neck, his powerful jaw clamping down.

Loki gave a strangled yelp as Helblindi's vice like grip cut off his air supply, kicking and squirming in a failed attempt to dislodge the older wolf. The screamed yelp that he released came out as little more than a choked breath, as the teeth continued to close around his throat. His lungs screamed for air as his vision begun to fade around the edges, the woods and stream around him becoming muted as he felt small warm rivets of blood begin to trickle through his fur.

He was going to do it. He was actually going to do it, Helblindi was going to rip out his throat.


End file.
